The White House is an infamous site for ghost sightings, as many former employees and Presidents of the United States have reportedly paid a ghostly visit to their former digs. One of the most popular ghost stories involves the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. In this article, you will learn about the ghost of Lincoln, including a list of people who claimed to have seen his ghost.
An interesting tale associated with Abraham Lincoln starts before he was even assassinated. Many people believe that Lincoln had a premonition in the form of a dream that foretold his death. One story describes the dream Lincoln had as hearing wailing noises. He attempted to locate the noise, but was unsuccessful. Lincoln checked in the East Room, where several people who didn’t take notice to his presence, but were instead standing around a corpse. He tugged on one sleeve of a soldier and inquired the identity of the dead man, where the soldier replied, ‘The president is dead.’ The dream disturbed Lincoln and he told his friends and wife.
Before John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln in the back of the head, he retold the dream to his Cabinet on April 14. He said: “In the dream, I was awakened by a faint moaning coming from somewhere nearby. I stood, and began hunting the noise, finally finding my way to the east room, where men and women were shrouded in funeral shawls. I saw a coffin on a dais, and soldiers at either end. A captain stood nearby, and I addressed him ‘Who is dead in the White House’ say I. ‘The President,’ is his answer, ‘he was killed by an assassin.’ In the coffin was a corpse in funeral vestments, but the face was obscured. A loud sob left the crowd, and I awoke.”
Abraham Lincoln Ghost Sightings
Reports of hearing unexplainable knockings on their bedroom doors, Presidents Truman, Hoover, and Teddy Roosevelt all believe they have come in contact with the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. No one knows why the weird knocking has been attributed to Lincoln’s ghost. President Coolidge’s wife claims to have seen the ghost of Lincoln on more than one occasion. She described him as appearing with his hands clasped behind his back and standing at the window of the Oval Office. She believes he was looking out onto the battlefields across the Potomac. The same window produced a strong feeling of the President’s presence when Carl Sandburg (who wrote a biography on the President) took a tour of the White House.
Other people to have seen Lincoln’s ghost include Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D Roosevelt, Queen Wilhelmina, Winston Churchill, Lyndon B Johnson, and the daughter of Ronald Reagan (Maureen). Interestingly, Reagan’s dog reportedly refused to enter the former bedroom of Lincoln’s and often stayed outside of the room barking.